


Mind Over Matter

by Ellen Smithee (ellensmithee)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Legilimency, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:43:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellensmithee/pseuds/Ellen%20Smithee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus provides comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mind Over Matter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VelveteenThestral](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelveteenThestral/gifts).



> This is either the first or second HP fic I wrote several years ago so read at your own risk... ;-)

Severus dodged from tree to tree in the small churchyard, eluding the Aurors. As a searchlight stabbed in his direction, he vaulted the next few metres to the church door and let himself in. There, he threw himself to the ground beneath the pews, wheezing and swallowing the fresh night air in great gulps. He lay there for a moment to catch his breath, barely registering the shouts and screams of Death Eaters and Aurors in the distance. 

It wasn't supposed to have been like this. The Dark Lord's intelligence had told him that the old church would be undefended, its ancient treasures just sitting there for the taking. They hadn't expected to find the church empty and their party surrounded by Aurors.

A sound from across the nave startled him. He heard raised voices and agonised shouts from a door behind the altar - voices that he knew only too well. He was about to jump to his feet to investigate when the door burst open and a lone figure emerged. Instinct told Severus to remain where he was, and he flattened himself against the cold stone floor. At that moment, a cloud moved away from the moon and a single moonbeam shot through the windows, illuminating the figure's face. A pure shard of hatred speared Severus' breast as he saw who it was - Potter.

Severus held his breath and struggled to control his reflexes and fight back his rising dread and panic. If Potter was alone, where was the other man, the one whose voice he had heard? Where was Evan? He wanted to jump up and run to Potter, smash his glasses into his hazel eyes, wipe the insufferable smirk off his face, and demand to know what he had done to Evan. Before he could do so, however, Potter disappeared through the door to the courtyard.

Severus jumped to his feet and ran to the door through which Potter had come. He slid through the door into the dark room, which was illuminated only by a single window high up on the wall and by the open door. 

"Evan," he called softly. No answer. He crept further into the room, starting when the door slammed closed behind him. Since he did not want to risk alerting the Aurors to his presence by casting Lumos, he waited a second until his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Then he called Evan again. This time, he was awarded by a small whimper from a dark corner. "Evan!" he cried and rushed forward, only to recoil in revulsion at the sight before him.

Where Evan's warm brown eyes had once been were empty sockets. Blood and pus flowed in rivulets down his cheeks and he held his gore-encrusted hands before him as if in prayer. He had obviously gouged out his eyes himself, no doubt driven by the pain of Potter's curse. Tenderness and horror warred within Severus, and he considered running for a moment to escape the sight of his hope and dreams lying in pieces before him. Then Evan spoke, but not in the deep, smoky voice that Severus so loved, but in a hoarse, scream-broken croak: "Severus, help me."

Any help for Evan was too late. Potter's curse - one of the darkest, which surely would have put him in Azkaban at any other time in history - coursed through Evan's veins, making them stand out a stark black against his translucent skin and turning his lips a violent purple. The poison of the curse was wasting him away before Severus' eyes. Severus did the only thing he could think of: taking Evan carefully in his arms, he pointed his wand at the direly wounded man and whispered, "Legilimens."

He felt the familiar confusion as he entered Evan's mind. The other man resisted at first, but he calmed as he recognised Severus and let down his mental guards.

Severus gasped. The pain was overwhelming. He began to panic and pull away, but the last sane shred of Evan's will wouldn't let him. He held on tenaciously, begging Severus wordlessly to offer him succour. At last Severus regained his control and began to concentrate, determined to give Evan one last gift - a respite from pain - before death. He searched among Evan's memories until he found it: the one perfect moment between them…

**********

Evan leaned back against the back of the sofa and held his arm awkwardly. It hurt, but he supposed he was lucky to be alive, with just a minor burn. Thank Merlin Severus had been there to pull him out of the flaming wreckage of the Muggle disco they'd attacked earlier that evening. Now, however, the terror and exhilaration of his first Death Eater mission had given way to a sickening feeling of horror and self-doubt. What had they done? What had _he_ done? 

At that moment, Severus stepped through the Floo and diverted Evan from his reflections. He felt the now familiar jolt of something he couldn't define go through him when he saw his friend - warm, excited, safe. Quickly casting a cleaning spell, Severus just looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Without much ado, he strode forward and thrust a potion phial into Evan's trembling hands. 

"Here," said Severus gruffly, only the slight line between his brows betraying his concern for his friend. "Drink this. You'll need it." Evan drank it down quickly. The Draught of Peace potion took effect almost immediately, calming his nerves and clearing away the fuzzy feeling in his head.

"Thanks," he murmured, handing the phial to Severus, who placed it on the coffee-table behind him. He motioned toward the other phial in Severus' hand with a questioning glance.

"Burn-healing paste. It should ease the pain and help you heal faster."

Evan nodded. Severus sat down beside him and took Evan's burnt arm in his hands. Evan gasped in pain and pulled away. Severus rolled his eyes in exasperation. "The salve, you idiot. Don't you want me to apply it?"

Evan nodded again and removed his robes with Severus' assistance, taking care not to jar his arm as he did so. Underneath, he wore nothing but pants. He shivered and wrapped and held out his arm, which Severus took again, but more gently this time.

For a while, neither of them spoke as Severus applied the paste. As it began to work and the redness and pain receded and then disappeared, Evan became aware of other sensation - the smell of smoke and potions ingredients clinging to his robes, the tingly feeling of his skin wherever Severus' hands touched him, and the sound of Severus' breathing, which seemed unnaturally heavy and fast to his ears, but he chalked that up to his slightly disoriented state. Finally, however, he could bear the silence no longer. 

"Severus…"

"Hmm?"

"Are you seeing anyone at the moment? Anyone I know? A… a bird?"

Severus looked at him as if he was insane. "No! I'm… not much interested in… _birds_." He inflected the last word with scorn.

Evan almost forgot to breathe. "You prefer blokes, then?" Severus blushed slightly and nodded without meeting his eyes. "What about Malfoy? Are the two of you are… I mean…"

Severus looked at him in shocked horror. "No! No, of course not. Do you think Malfoy would even touch someone like, well, someone like me?" he asked bitterly. "Honestly, who would?"

"I would!" exclaimed Evan and promptly clapped his hand over his mouth before more indiscretions escaped.

Severus' mouth dropped open in astonishment, but then his gaze darkened to a glare. "I thought you were my friend. You have no reason to mock me." He stood up abruptly and moved towards the door.

"No, Severus, wait!" Evan jumped up and grabbed Severus by the arm. He quickly pressed his lips against those of his friend, and, when the other man opened his mouth to protest, Evan moaned and thrust his tongue into Severus' mouth. After a moment of apparent surprise, Severus relaxed into the embrace and hesitantly wrapped his arms around Evan. Evan felt like he was falling, and when his back hit the cushions of the sofa, he knew why.

Severus threaded his fingers in Evan's and pushed his hands above his head, while he ground his hips against the smaller man to hold him in place. Evan moaned at the exquisite sensation of Severus' hardening cock against his groin, and Severus kissed him with passionate vigour. He kissed along Evan's chin to his mouth, pausing to nibble Evan's lower lip, and then lick away the sting.

Never taking his eyes from Evan's face, Severus broke off the kiss and backed away. He opened his robes and let them drop to the floor. Evan looked him up and down, from the hard planes of his thin torso to his slender, well-muscled legs, unconsciously licking his lips at the sight of his engorged cock head peaking out from the top of his pants.

Severus gave him a predator's smile and lowered himself onto Evan, more slowly this time. He attacked Evan's mouth with renewed ardour, claiming it with his thrusting tongue. He reached down and managed to push down the pants of both men single-handedly and take both their cocks in his hand. He pulled back and looked intently into Evan's eyes as he pulled and squeezed their erections. Evan hissed at the sensation of cock against cock and arched his back, thrusting his hips upwards. Panting uneven breaths, he threw back his head and closed his eyes, only to open them again when Severus demanded: "Look at me. Now." 

Unable to hold back any longer, Evan began to thrust his cock more deeply into Severus' fist, relishing Severus' hoarse cry of pleasure as he came. All it took was the wet friction of Severus' spreading semen to bring him to completion.

Catching his breath, Evan leaned back and grinned at his friend. "Severus, I -"

**********

The memories stopped abruptly and Severus was ejected from Evan's dying mind with a sudden push. He struggled to regain his orientation for a moment and then looked down at Evan. His friend - his lover - raised a hand to touch Severus' cheek and whispered: "Always loved you." As his voice faded away, his hand fell away and his body went still.

"Evan!" he cried, hot tears running unchecked down his face as he pressed Evan's still form to his chest. Severus clutched him against his breast and rocked back and forth, lost for a moment in his grief.

The sounds of approaching footsteps and voices - Potter and reinforcements - pulled him out of his stupor. He pressed a quick kiss to Evan's lips and Disapparated. 

He pushed through the crowd of fearful Death Eaters until he reached Voldemort's throne and prostrated himself wordlessly at his lord's feet. He winced as Voldemort penetrated his mind without warning, but opened it for his lord completely, letting Voldemort see what had transpired, as well as his anguish, his love, and his desire for vengeance.

"Let it be so," said Voldemort afterwards with a grim smile as Severus outlined his plan. "You are my best Occlumens. The old man won't suspect a thing." 

A week later, a recalcitrant Severus Snape presented himself to Albus Dumbledore and knelt before him. He confessed his sins with halting stutters and angry sobs, letting the old man enter his mind with feigned reluctance. What he saw there satisfied the old fool, and he patted Severus' hand in a fatherly manner and offered the position of double agent cum potions master. Severus squeezed Albus' hand tightly as he thanked him and spat the half-eaten lemon drop into a dark corner after the door to the headmaster's office had closed behind him. 

He soon settled in his new routine of teaching and spying for two masters, his mind set on a single objective.

Someday, he swore, James Potter would pay.


End file.
